


Window Screens and Late Night Talks

by Satellites_and_Stars



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Gen, High School, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:55:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23062816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Satellites_and_Stars/pseuds/Satellites_and_Stars
Summary: Jack gets into a fight with his parents and just needs someone to tell him that everything's okay.
Kudos: 10





	Window Screens and Late Night Talks

Alex stared blankly at the half-finished math homework spread out on his desk. The clock was flashing 2:18 AM, and he was ready to just call it a night and take the zero. At this rate, he wasn’t getting any more work done anyways.

With a sigh of resignation, Alex switched off his desk lamp and staggered over to his bed before collapsing face down onto his pillow. He was just about to drift off when he was startled awake by his cellphone as it vibrated on the nightstand. Groaning, Alex rolled over and blindly reached for the device. Part of him wanted to turn it off and go to sleep, but he couldn’t stifle his curiosity. It wasn’t every day that he got a notification this late at night.

Alex turned the phone on, squinting as his tired eyes adjusted to the sudden exposure to light, and saw a new text message from Jack. It was just a simple “ _hey_ ,” which made Alex frown in confusion. Who texts “ _hey_ ” this late on a school night?

 _Hey_ , he texted back. _Is there a reason you’re texting me at 2:30 in the morning on a Tuesday?_ Alex waited anxiously for a reply. It came almost immediately.

_Can I come over?_

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, unsure if he’d read correctly, then quickly typed a response. _Like right now?_

_Yeah._

Under any other circumstances, Alex would’ve said no, but Jack didn’t seem like he was sending drunk texts and actually sounded pretty serious, which was cause for concern all on its own. He weighed the possible consequences of trying to sneak his best friend into the house in the middle of the night. _Dude, my parents would kill me. Is everything ok?_

_I’ll explain, I promise. I just don’t wanna be alone right now._

Well, that was vague and slightly alarming. Alex’s mind was jumping from one worst-case scenario to the next as he typed out another message. _Ok yeah, sure. Just park down the street and come to my window. Left side of the house, only one with the light on._

_Ok. Thanks._

Alex slipped out of bed, turned his light back on, then mindlessly flipped through a book in an effort to distract himself from the thoughts racing around his head. He couldn’t stop his leg from bouncing up and down as he nervously glanced at the window every few seconds, waiting for Jack to show up.

Fifteen minutes later, there was a light tap on the glass, and Alex could see Jack giving him a small wave from outside. He prayed that his parents hadn’t suddenly decided to start using the house alarm before sliding the window open. There was, however, something that had slipped his mind.

“Um, do you know how to take the screen out?” Alex asked.

“Fuck if I know,” Jack said with a shrug. “Can you even take those things out?

“I think so…I don’t wanna cut it out cause I’d have no way of explaining that one.”

“Just try popping it out.”

Alex started pushing on the sides of the screen, trying not to break anything. Eventually, the screen detached from the frame and fell outwards, hitting Jack square in the face.

“Ow,” he said monotonously. Jack tossed the screen back inside, then took the hand that Alex had offered to help him through the window.

Once they were both in, Alex took note of Jack’s disheveled black and blond hair and the way his eyes were tinged with red. So yeah, something bad had definitely happened. He sat down on the end of his bed while Jack took a seat in his desk chair, consciously avoiding Alex’s expectant gaze.

“So…” Alex prompted. “What’s up?”

Jack stared intently at his shoes. “I’m just…not on very good terms with my parents right now.”

“What happened?”

“They saw my grades and flipped out. I’m kind of grounded now.” He smiled sheepishly.

Alex didn’t find it quite as amusing. “Is that why you had to wait til the middle of the night to come over?”

“Um, no, that was because something else kinda happened.”

“Okay?”

“Well, I couldn’t sleep because the whole fight just put me in a really shitty mood, but it was fine. I’d just get over it. This kind of thing has happened before.” Jack started apprehensively wringing his hands as he continued. “But then right before I texted you, I heard my parents talking. About me. And how I was never gonna get anywhere in life.”

Alex felt awful just hearing Jack talk about it, but he stayed quiet, unable to think of anything helpful to say. He cursed himself for being so useless when it came to comforting others.

“It’s one thing to think to yourself that you’re a complete failure,” Jack continued softly. “But to hear your own mom say it. And in a way that you know, she really believes what she’s saying. It just…it fucking hurts.” His voice cracked on the final word, and tears stung his eyes for the umpteenth time that night. “And if I’m not going anywhere, I don't even see the point in trying anymore…”

Jack’s eyes widened as he was suddenly pulled up out of the chair and into a tight embrace. He stood frozen for a moment before squeezing his eyes shut and hugging Alex back, clinging to him as a few stray tears escaped.

“Hey, don’t ever think like that,” Alex said firmly. He led Jack back to his bed, where they sat beside each other, Jack’s head resting on Alex’s shoulder as he continued to silently cry.

“Fuck what your parents have to say,” he continued. “You’re not a failure. You’re gonna grow up and do whatever makes you happy because some fucking letters aren’t gonna determine the rest of your life. And then you’ll look back on this moment, right now, and be glad that you didn’t give up. Okay?” Alex looked down at Jack, who nodded with a small sniffle. “And I’ll be with you the whole way.”

“Thanks,” Jack said quietly.

But before Alex could respond, he heard the faint sound of a switch being flipped and noticed light suddenly coming from the hall through the crack in his bedroom door. Both boys scrambled into action as they heard approaching footsteps. Jack practically threw himself back out the window, Alex slamming it shut behind him and kicking the window screen underneath his bed. He jumped into his desk chair, grabbed a pencil, and made it look like he was thinking really hard about math just as his door opened and his mom poked her head inside.

“Alex, what are you still doing up?” she asked tiredly.

Alex desperately tried to steady his frantic breathing. “Homework.”

His mom gave him a look of disapproval. “Well, you should’ve been doing that earlier instead of watching TV.”

“I’m almost done! I’ll go to bed in 5 minutes. Promise.”

His mom rolled her eyes, but left him alone, shutting the door behind her with a soft click.

Alex waited until the hall light had been turned off, and a few more seconds had gone by just for good measure before opening his window back up and peering down at Jack, who was sitting in the damp grass below.

“Do you wanna come back in?” Alex asked.

Jack stood up, brushing the dirt from his pants and wiping the leftover tears from his eyes. “Nah, I should probably get home. Don’t need to get grounded for longer than I already am.” He gave a half-hearted laugh.

“Seriously though, are you gonna be okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Jack reassured him.

“I’ll see you at school?”

“Alex, stop worrying. I’ll see you later.”

The two of them shared a smile, and Alex rested his elbows on the windowsill as he watched Jack give him one last wave, then run off down the street towards his car. He was just about to shut his window for good that night when he paused and frowned.

How the fuck are you supposed to put the screen back in?

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, thank you so much for reading! This was actually a request that I got, so thank you person who requested this :) If you would like to make a request, please feel free to leave a comment below or shoot me a message on tumblr @satellites-n-stars!


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